The caption that accompanied this photo by Charles Conlon in the September 1927 issue of Baseball Magazine says it best: "Here you may meet baseball's greatest slugger face to face. Babe Ruth, the Superman of Swat." The Bambino was the biggest of the stars Conlon photographed for The Sporting News during baseball's golden age. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Ty Cobb didn't always slide with his spikes on the ground; New York Highlanders third baseman Jimmy Austin likely was grateful that Cobb did on this play. Cobb was already a two-time American League batting champion for the Detroit Tigers when Conlon snapped this image in 1909. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Even as a rookie in 1939, Ted Williams exuded confidence (cockiness?), as is captured so well in this Conlon portrait. Teddy Ballgame had reason to feel good about himself: He was one of the game's greatest hitters, as evidenced by his .344 lifetime average and 2,654 hits. The latter total likely would have surpassed 3,000 had Williams not served two tours of duty as a Marine Corps pilot. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Conlon got down and dirty as he focused on the strong hands of Honus Wagner, one of the game's earliest superstars. During a career that spanned from 1897 to 1917, the Flying Dutchman won eight National League batting titles with the Pittsburgh Pirates. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Joltin' Joe was already a two-time World Series champion when Conlon captured this image in the New York Yankees' dugout in 1938. In DiMag's rookie year, 1936, his teammates included fellow future Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey and Tony Lazzeri. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Rogers Hornsby was baseball royalty when he stood for this Conlon photo in 1925. The St. Louis Cardinals second baseman/manager (yes, manager) was en route to his second NL Triple Crown in four seasons; he finished the year with a .403 average (his third .400 season), 39 homers and 143 RBIs. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Conlon captured a teenage Bob Feller warming up before a Cleveland Indians game in 1938. It was Feller's first full season in the bigs, and the numbers proved it: Rapid Robert led the majors with 240 strikeouts—and 208 walks. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

The young Foxx shown in this Conlon image was a cornerstone of the Philadelphia Athletics teams that won AL pennants in 1929, 1930 and 1931. In 1932, he took aim at Babe Ruth's home run record; he finished two short at 58. One of Foxx's nicknames was "Beast," although by today's standards he'd be considered average-sized at best (6 feet, 195 pounds). (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Hank Greenberg was a 22-year-old rookie first baseman with the Detroit Tigers when Conlon took this shot in 1933. Greenberg became one of the AL's best power hitters; like Foxx, he missed matching Ruth's home run record by two when he hit 58 in '38. Greenberg missed almost four seasons while serving in the Army before and during World War II. After he returned to baseball in August 1945, he helped lead the Tigers to a World Series championship. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Ed Walsh showed Conlon in 1913 how he gripped his famed spitball, a pitch that was legal at the time. Walsh was an ironman for the Chicago White Sox in the heart of the Dead Ball Era; he averaged 373 1/3 innings pitched from 1907 through 1912. His arm gave out in '13, though, and he was out of the majors by 1917. His career 1.82 ERA remains a major league record. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Jimmy Durante? Nope, it's John "Oyster Joe" Martina, a pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1924. Martina made the Nats' roster that year as a 34-year-old rookie after 14 seasons in the minors. His timing was impeccable: Washington won its first World Series that October. The franchise won its next title 63 years later, as the Minnesota Twins. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Shibe Park was one of the game's palaces at the start of the 20th century. Opened in 1909, it first housed Connie Mack's mighty Philadelphia Athletics. In 1938, the Phillies abandoned nearby Baker Bowl and became a co-tenant. The park was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953 after Mack's retirement. It closed in 1970, months before the Phillies moved into Veterans Stadium. The A's had long since left the city; they moved to Kansas City, Mo., in 1955. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

New York Giants first baseman Zeke Bonura gets to work shaving down a bat handle before a 1939 game at the Polo Grounds. Conlon had the benefit of seeing every major league team come into Gotham. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

Cubs manager Charlie Grimm, left, and catcher Gabby Hartnett ham it up for Conlon in 1937. The '30s were one the Cubs' few good periods; they were a perennial first-division club in the NL. Hartnett's "Homer in the Gloamin' " at a darkened Wrigley Field won the pennant for the North Siders in '38. (Charles Conlon/Sporting News Archive)

As he did with Ruth, Conlon got up close and personal with the Iron Horse in '27. Gehrig drove in 175 runs hitting behind the Babe that year, and the Bombers won 110 games en route to the AL crown. The Yanks capped the year with a four-game sweep of the Pirates in the World Series. They repeated the feat in '28 when they swept the Cardinals. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

In 1913, six years before he turned into one of the Black Sox, Jackson was a fleet-footed outfielder for the Cleveland Naps (they officially became the Indians in 1915). Note the mitt stashed in Joe's back pocket. Shoeless Joe led the majors in '13 with 197 hits and batted .373 (second to Cobb's .390), but he finished second in the AL MVP voting to 36-game winner Walter Johnson. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Two men who helped shape the sport in the early 20th century: Cincinnati Reds president Garry Herrmann, left, who chaired the National Commission, a forerunner of the commissioner's office, and American League president Ban Johnson. (Charles M. Conlon / Sporting News)

Tim Jordan played in the Big City, New York, as a member of the AL Highlanders and then the NL Superbas (later Dodgers). He led the Senior Circuit in home runs twice, belting 12 in 1906 and again in 1908. Here he's taking a swing before a game in 1910, his final season in the bigs. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Ford Frick was early in his tenure as National League president when this Conlon shot was taken in 1938, Frick, a former newspaperman and sportscaster, ascended to commissioner after the resignation of Happy Chandler in 1951. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Branch Rickey became a baseball legend for his work as a pioneering executive, but his first contributions to the game were as a player and manager. He was a catcher for the St. Louis Browns and New York Highlanders in parts of four seasons; he was with the Browns when he posed for Conlon in 1913. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Ol' Diz gave Conlon an arresting image back in '34 with this follow-through from the warmup mound. Dean went 30-7 that year and, with his brother Paul, helped pitch the Cardinals to a world championship. Dizzy's fortunes turned three years later when he was hit by a line drive in the All-Star Game. (Charles M. Conlon / Sporting News)

The man in the middle of Tinker to Evers to Chance, Johnny Evers had already played more than a decade for the Chicago Cubs when he stood for Conlon in 1913. In February 1914, the Cubs traded him to the Boston Braves. Evers won the NL MVP Award that year after helping to lead the Miracle Braves to the pennant. (Charles M. Conlon / Sporting News)

Leo "the Lip" Durocher was in his first season with the St. Louis Cardinals when Conlon caught up with him for this photo in 1933. The fiery Durocher was a natural fit with St. Louis' Gas House Gang which won a World Series title in '34. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

The Big Train was ready to hang 'em up as a pitcher when Conlon got this shot in 1927. Johnson played his entire 21-year career with the Washington Senators, then became the club's manager in 1929. After four seasons in the dugout in D.C., he began a short run as Cleveland Indians skipper. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Lefty Gomez won five World Series rings as a pitcher for the Yankees in the '30s. No. 3 came in 1937, the year Conlon caught up with him for this photo at the old Stadium. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Wee Willie Keeler, known for the quote "I hit 'em where they ain't," was one of the game's early stars. He played for three New York clubs plus the first Baltimore Orioles. As a 40-year-old in 1912, Keeler showed signs that the baseball life had taken a toll on him. Keeler died in 1923 at age 50. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Joe Cronin was a star shortstop for the Washington Senators and Boston Red Sox during the Great Depression. He looks slightly out of sorts in this 1932 Conlon photo. In 1933, the 26-year-old Cronin led the Nats to the World Series as a player/manager. Years later, he became president of the American League. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Earle Combs cuts a striking figure in this 1927 Conlon frame. Combs batted leadoff and played center field for the Murderers' Row Yankees that year; he scored 137 runs, yet was still third on the team, behind Ruth (158) and Gehrig (149). (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Eddie Collins had seen a lot in the game when he posed for Conlon in 1925. Six years earlier, he was a witness to the Black Sox scandal as a member of the White Sox, although he obviously wasn't one of the eight men who were thrown out of the game by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

You wonder where the White Sox got the inspiration for their throwback uniforms of the late 1970s? Look no further than this Conlon creation, a shot of George Davis, an infielder for the ChiSox in 1902 and from 1904 to 1909. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Conlon captured White Sox owner Charles Comiskey during the 1917 World Series, which Chicago won. Two years later, the Sox were favored to win it all again, only to lose in shocking (and suspicious) fashion to the Cincinnati Reds. It was later reported that some Chicago players, angry over Comiskey's cheapness, conspired to take money from gamblers in exchange for throwing games and the Series. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Fred Clarke was a player and manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates for 15 years. By 1915, he was almost exclusively a manager, although he kept himself ready in case he was needed. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Christy Mathewson was a superstar pitcher for the New York Giants during the Dead Ball Era. From 1901 through 1914, he posted a 2.04 ERA and completed 418 of his 520 starts. He gained national acclaim for his three shutouts in the 1905 World Series. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Before he became the Ol' Perfesser, Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel was a run-of-the mill manager who couldn't get his teams into the first division. Stengel was the first-year skipper of the Boston Bees (nickname changed from Braves) when he posed for Conlon in 1938. The Bees finished fifth in the eight-team NL that year; it was their best showing in Stengel's five-plus seasons with the club. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Honus Wagner played his last major league game in 1917, yet he's still seventh on the all-time hits list with 3,420. He had just two, 200-hit seasons in his 21-year career, a testament to his consistency. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

A young, svelte George Herman Ruth was beginning his transition from the mound to the outfield with the Boston Red Sox in 1918. Ruth was an excellent left-handed pitcher, but his unmatched power prompted the Sox to make him an everyday player. Boston won the Series in '18, with Ruth pitching two of the games. By 1920, he was a Yankee. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Helen Woodford, center, became the first Mrs. George H. Ruth in 1914. By 1925, when this Conlon photo was taken, their marriage was in peril. Here, Mrs. Ruth sits in a Yankee Stadium field box seat with the couple's adopted daughter, Dorothy. At right is Nick Altrock, a longtime major leaguer turned baseball entertainer. Helen Ruth died in a house fire in Watertown, Mass., in 1929, after she and the Babe had split. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

TyCobb in a less aggressive posture in 1917. Cobb was still going strong in his 13th big league season: He led baseball that year with a .383 average, a .440 on-base percentage and 55 stolen bases. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Of all the major league records that people say will never be broken, Cy Young holds two that are almost locks to remain his: 511 wins and 749 complete games. Anyone who does exceed those totals will surely have a lot of Young's namesake awards on his mantle. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

"Sunny Jim" Bottomley in a 1930 Conlon image. Bottomley drove in 100 or more runs in six consecutive seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals (1924-29) and set the major league record with 12 RBIs in a game in '24. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)

Zack Wheat with a young fan in 1925. Wheat manned the outfield for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1909 to 1926. He finished his career with the A's in 1927. Wheat was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1959 by the Veterans' Committee, on the strength of 2,884 lifetime hits and a .317 average. (Charles M. Conlon/Sporting News)